Before the Fall
by xSimplyElementaryx
Summary: Together, they grew up in Ehrmich. One dreamt of ways to escape the walls, while the other sought to find the truth within. As they grew, they became servants of humanity, fighting alongside others who also yearned for something more. But no matter where fate brought them, they always thought back to the peaceful times when all they had was each other.
1. The Ugly Duckling

At an old rickety desk, a man sat tinkering with a mechanical doodad, gears, springs, and screws scattered about. Squeak. Squeak. He paused amid his work and shook his desk. Squeak. Squeak. Scratching his head, he scanned his desktop. With a curt hum, the man searched around his desk. Where could it have gone off to? As he searched, his wife was chopping up some potatoes just a stone throw away across the room of their cottage. Her hands worked on their own as she stared out the window, looking left and right down the street right outside. Where could her daughter have gone off to?

Movement came into the window's view and made the wife freeze. A young raggedy child fought with a tall Garrison soldier as he was escorting them towards the house. The wife threw her knife into her cutting board. "That child...!" She marched to the door and flung open the door. "Elysia Sumner!"

"Hello, Ileana," the military man greeted her.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh through her nostrils. "Dom, what did she do?"

"Do you need to ask?" He gave a light chuckle and gave the girl a jerk. "The little rascal tried to scale the wall again."

"I was hoping that one of these days you would bring her around with good news."

He shrugged sheepishly. "I dunno what ta tell ya."

"Ugh." She squatted down to the young girl's level. "You are in BIG trouble, young lady."

The girl gave a huff and turned away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't give me that." Ileana pointed a stern finger at her. "You say that every time! And the next day you're out and about again doing the same damned thing!"

"'ey, 'ey." The man finally backed away from his workbench. He slid his goggles up on his forehead and swaggered over to the commotion. "Dear, let's not yell at 'er fer usin' 'er ambitious nature ta 'er fullest potential."

Ileana looked at her husband, dumbstruck. "It's amazing how you intervene and yet don't at the same time."

Ignoring his wife, he knelt down and brushed his daughter's bangs away from her eyes. "Elyse, 'ow 'igh did ya make it?"

Elyse beamed, putting her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. "Halfway!"

"Halfway?!" Ileana gasped.

Dom rolled his eyes and nudged Elyse in the back of the heel. "You little liar, you only made it a meter up, and that was because you climbed the crates."

She turned to him, holding a metal contraption with study, imposing spikes and leather straps out to him. "I would've gotten higher if these worked!"

With a chuckle her father took the object from her. "I'm glad ya decided ta test it fer me, but these are supposed ta be fer ice, Elyse."

"They're both hard..."

"Oh yeah," Dom looked back at her parents, "she also tried to drive a stake into the wall."

Ileana gasped again, putting her hand over her heart. "Elysia!"

"With what?" Her father seemed suddenly and genuinely interested.

"Gregory! Stop encouraging her."

"I'm just askin', dear."

Dom handed her father small leather bag, worn from age and constant use. "A hammer."

Upon seeing the tool, Gregory smiled. "So this is where it went off ta."

"For once, can you TRY to be even a little upset over this, Gregory?" Ileana hissed through her teeth.

He cleared his throat and brushed himself off as he stood up to face Dom. "I'm sorry fer the trouble she's caused ya, boyo. I assure ya that she will never go near that wall again."

Dom grinned and put a hand on Elyse's hair, ruffling it up. "Don't worry about it. You're just lucky that me and the others really like the little bugger. She keeps things exciting during the gate shifts. You've got a really determined young'un. "

Ileana threw up her hands in exasperation and went back to her cutting board, to which Gregory gave a quiet chuckle. Something in him liked seeing that disgruntled face on her. It reminded him of why he fell in love with her to begin with. Then with one swing of that clever, he remembered why he stayed.

Gregory thanked Dom and closed the door as he lead Elyse back to his work table. This was what his little girl looked forward to every day. Her eyes lit up and that cute toothless gap between her teeth showed with her grin. Gregory pinched her cheek lovingly and brushed her hair back. Her hair had gotten so long. When did she get that scrape on her hand? Was she taller too? It seemed like just the other day he had her cradled in his arms, singing her lullabies. Now, she was old enough to sit his lap as he tinkered away.

Curious about his daughter capabilities, he let Elyse hammer in those loose nails back in place with the same hammer she took with her earlier. One wide swing was all it took to drive those nails in. How his girl got the strength to swing a hammer like that...THWAK! Gregory turned in time to see he head of a chicken go flying. Mother's agressive strength combined with his own thoughts and ideas. Ah, no one could ask a more perfect child.

Elyse climbed back on her fathers lap and took his goggles and put them on. "Papa, do yah think dat I can be an inventa like yah?"

Hearing the slurred and garbled speech, Ileana turned from her cooking, shaking her knife at the father-daughter duo in the back of the house. "Elyse, what have I told you about talking like that? Speak properly! You're an educated girl for heaven's sake. Act like one!"

"Sorry, Mama." Elyse giggled.

"Well, 'oney," Gregory whispered to his child, "ya can be whateva yer little mind can think of. Ya've learned well from me an' yer ma, but dun just think all there is in life is either a tailor or an inventa. There are things ya can do beyond this." He leaned in closer and lowered his voice even further. "And in Elysium...ya'll be able ta do things ya could only dream of doin' here."

Her eyes widened, joy filling up in her, as she whispered back. "Ya mean, like flying?"

"Flyin', sailin', travelin'...ya'll be free ta do whatever yer little heart can think of."

"Then...why do people hate it so much?"

The cheerful shine in his eyes dulled as a frown creased his face. "When ya 'ave a safe 'aven...or even seemingly so, people dun wanna ruin it, even if the reward is...much greater than the sacrifice."

Elyse could only stare at him. Not understanding why people would rather stay cooped in a place like this, where outside, there was a world of limitless possibilities. Gregory pinched her cheek again as the matron called them to dinner. Maybe it was wrong to mold his little girl into a dreamer, maybe his wife had the right idea, to grind reality into her like salt in a wound. People were happy the way things were, living life like they could leave any time they wanted. Going on about trivial, everyday problems. Why go looking for trouble to create bigger, deadlier problems?

Gregory watched his young girl and his wife eat, not touching his own food. Elyse was shoveling food down her gullet as Ileana desperately tried to wipe her face and stop her from eating like a pig. Ever since Elyse could comprehend words and actions, he and Ileana have butted heads. He could hardly care less if his little girl was accepted into society or not. He wanted her to dream big and fight her way out of here. On the other hand, Ileana wanted her to be accepted, looked upon like a respectful girl of class, so no one could look down upon her and smear her name through the mud. Following her mother's path, Elyse would attend parties of the upper class, marry a rich and loving man, have children, and then die. All while trapped behind the wall.

Ileana looked up and met Gregory's eyes. Her lids narrowed just the slightest into a glare, as if to scold him for everything he has done, as if the way his daughter turned out was all his fault. He would gladly take credit for everything his daughter did. She was papa's little girl, and nothing she did could make him any less proud. And nothing made him happier than telling her fairytales and folktales from the world before the wall, like the Pied Piper or the Boy Who Cried Wolf . Even after hearing the same ones over the years, that smile on her face never grew dimmer.

It was worth having to sleep down in the basement. Ileana truly hated all those stories and all those dreams. Yet, some nights, he would wake from his sleep, feeling a light kiss on his forehead, to see her retreating up the stairs. Sometimes he wondered if he was seeing things from being awoken in the middle of the night, but other times he knew how much Ileana still cared.

"Elyse! School!" Ileana shouted the next morning. "And if I find out you skipped again, there is going to be hell to pay, young lady!'"

"So, don't get caught." Elyse grabbed her bag and bundle of books. "Got it, ma!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"I was just kidding!" She quickly darted out of the house before her mother could do anything else.

Sitting at the dining table, Gregory gently blew at his tea. "Dear, ya shouldn't care so much about what Elyse does."

She swiftly turned to him with a scowl on her face. "Is there something wrong with wanting her to go to school?"

"No, but something could be said about tryin' ta bend a child against their natural 'inges."

"You're just saying that because she's chosen YOUR way of living."

Gregory shrugged. "Who knows if I would be alright if she lived yer way, but I don't 'ave ta. She 'as chosen ta escape this place."

"Only because she doesn't even know what's out there!"

"Titans. I told 'er. That 'asn't deterred 'er."

"You could say castles and magical ponies and be met with the same attitude. She doesn't know what those titans are capable of. Of course she would shrug it off like nothing! If she continues with this dream of YOURS, she'll see those titans. She'll see them, and it will be too late. She will die, pursuing a dream that doesn't even guarantee happiness! It's just some fantasy idea!"

Gregory had averted his eyes from his shouting wife. This was a losing argument for him. Everything he said, through no fault of Ileana, would make him out to be a bad father. All he could say was, "she's following 'er dreams."

"She still can't tell the difference between her right and left shoe!" Ileana slammed her hands on the table and stormed off to the bedroom. No doubt to weave her signature garments made with the utmost anger. Clack. Clack. Clack. Ah, there was the sound of her sewing machine working its sorcery. Those other tailors around, who foolishly stitched their fabrics with love and care, could never hold a candle to his wife and her robes of malevolence.

Gregory sighed and picked up his tea. How his wife sold a single dress with such ill will behind each one, was a mystery. There was no use trying to make her feel better. Anything that came in contact with her would just make her mood fouler. He descended into the basement, his treasure trove of all the story books and scriptures of the time before the wall. He ran his hand over the leather spines of his books, until he came across a hole. One was missing. Where did it go off to?

Elyse sat in class, holding her mathematics book straight up, as her teacher doodled math problems on the board. Her face was plastered in that book, eyes darting back and forth over the text, the text that told old ghost stories of yore. Her eyes lit up as the shutters rattled, and the flames of the candles flickered, and the ghost appeared in front of her. Oh, how those words seemed so real sometimes. She eagerly flipped the page of the book within her mathematics text.

The boy behind her rose his hand. "Father, Elysia isn't actually reading the text."

Elyse froze with her mouth open in shock. She then turned to the boy. "You tattler!"

The graying teacher sighed and put down his chalk. "Elysia, I warned you before."

"Oh no, please, that book isn't mine," she begged.

He walked over to her and held out his hand. "It's bad enough that I've let this go twice. Not to mention you haven't been showing up lately, and the day you do decided to show up, you're distracted with something."

"At least it's a book..."

He beckoned his fingers. "Elysia. Don't make me ask again."

She whimpered and handed him the thick leather-bound book. "Please don't take it. It's my pa's."

The teacher took it from her and examined it, thumbing through the pages and skimming the passages. His eyes became wide behind his glasses as he saw the contents. With a snap, he shut the book. "You may have this book back later."

She played with her fingers nervously. "You...won't tell?"

He turned his back on her and went back to the front of the classroom. "I will be having a talk with your parents."

"Could it just be with my pa?" she asked hopefully.

"No."

Elyse sunk down in her seat and pulled her textbook with her. Grudgingly, she followed along with the math. It was nice that the teacher could continue on like nothing had just happened. Not only did she have to sit through class, bored out of her mind, but she was probably going to get yelled at and then killed later tonight too. Now, a little part of her wanted the class to go on forever, but nothing was going her way today.

When they were dismissed, the boy who tattled approached her with a blank, emotionless stare. "Elysia, I'm sorry for being a tattletale, but you really should pay attention to this. It could help you later on in life."

Elyse turned slowly to face the thick browed boy, scowl on her face. "I hate you, Erwin."


	2. The Prince and the Pauper

Elyse was followed home by her teacher and his serpent like son, who never seemed to blink. The creepy eyebrow kid had to open his mouth. Well, the joke was on him. She stood behind him, ready to use him as a human shield for her mother's fury. However, before Erwin's father could even knock, her own came out of the house, fumbling with his coat.

"Oh, yer Elyse's teacha," he noted.

"Yes, and you must be Mr. Sumner."

"I am. What's the problem? Uh, but, I must say before ya reply, my wife's in an awfully foul mood right now. It would be in yer best interest not ta not ask fer 'er."

"Well, if it's too much of a bother, I could come back some other time."

"Oh, no, you an' I can walk an' talk." He began his collected stride. "Now what did my little girl do this time?"

Elyse's teacher followed suit and walked beside her father, leaving her and Erwin a little ways behind them. "She was reading behind her text book, and this isn't the first time," her teacher said. "I'm afraid your little girl isn't going to learn anything."

Gregory looked over his shoulder at Elyse. "'oney, what's fifty divided by ten, plus twelve?"

"Uhhh, seventeen?" she responded with a crooked smile.

He looked back at her teacher, shrugging carelessly. "I've been teachin' 'er math since she could speak. Comes with 'avin' ta measure things."

"Well, Mr. Sumner, that's not the only problem. I understand that she's a very bright young lady."

"Who, I've been told, still cannot understand the concept of left shoe an' right shoe." He looked back again, grinning at his daughter.

"I know if it's right when I put it on," Elyse groaned.

"I can help you with that," Erwin offered.

She turned to him, teeth clenched. "You got my book taken away."

"You shouldn't have been reading it."

"Ah!" Gregory turned all the way around, now walking backwards. "'oney, ya know where papa's book went? Ya know ya shouldn't take things that dun belong to ya."

"Teacher still has it," she muttered.

Her teacher touched her father on the shoulder. "That's also what I wanted to talk to you about."

He raised a curious eyebrow. "Eh? They're 'armless stories. I'll talk ta 'er about readin' them in class, but I ain't gonna stop 'er from readin' them all togetha."

"Oh, no, it's not that..." He looked around and lowered his voice. "This is where I'd prefer it if we talked in private."

Gregory ran his eyes over the man, over his face, arms, legs. Elyse's father always did this with people, for whatever reason. It was a queer sort quirk of his that Elyse never understood. When he was satisfied he would resume what he had been doing previously, just like his observation was written in parentheses. "Gotta get the wife some fabric first."

"Of course."

Gregory continued with his brisk pace into main street and darted into one of the many stores, one his wife preferred to buy from. The owner, knowing his wife very well, handed over a mountain of fabric rolls of all different colors and textures. Did she think they brought a cart horse with them? If she knew their family, she should know that they owned no such thing. Elyse offered to help her poor father with carrying the load, but he only tipped the mound and let one of the smaller rolls at the top fall into her arms. Apparently the only thing hindering him was the fact that his vision was obscured. For someone who never rose his hand against anyone, he sure was in a position to do so. Her father could beat a man black and blue with just a slap.

Elyse smiled up at her father, who was more preoccupied with being a pack mule to notice, and lugged that fabric roll back home with the same stride, same posture, and same strength as the man she smiled so brightly upon.

When the arrived home, Gregory could hear the clacking of the sewing machine still hard at work. He opened the door to his wife's sewing room and dropped the fabric, grabbing the roll from Elyse, before briskly closing the door. The last thing he wanted was her to notice him and snap. Brushing the hard work off his hands, he turned to his guest. "So what was it that ya wanted ta talk ta me about?"

Elyse's teacher turned to his son. "Do you mind looking after Elysia while me and her father speak?"

"What?" Elyse looked at him in shock.

"No." Erwin held out his hand. "Where would you like to go, Elysia?"

She turned her back on him and grabbed the her book back from her father. "I wanna finish this!"

"Oh, 'oney, yer papa's little girl, but I'm not gonna stand fer ya denyin' that boy's 'and."

Her eyes welled up and twitched. "I was only halfway through a story though!"

"I'll read 'em ta ya when ya get back. Now, scoot yer little be-hind out that door an' play with that boy."

"Okay..." She slouched and slapped her hand onto Erwin's.

Erwin walked with her outside, but that seemed to be the extent of his plans. He looked up and down the street. There really nothing to do. Most days he just stayed inside, reading or learning from his mother and father. Elyse seemed like the type to adventure and play around outside. Well, he could...

Elyse turned to him, eyes narrowed curiously. "Are we gonna do anything, or are you just gonna hold my hand until our fathers are done?"

"I don't know what would interest you."

"I'm interested in reading my book."

"You're really stubborn, aren't you?"

She took her hand away and puffed out her cheeks. "You don't know how amazing that book is! OR how amazing any of the books I read are! You just see that I'm not reading what you're father's teaching and-and that's it! There are things you can be beyond a teacher, or tailor, or inventor!"

"Things that most likely require a degree of math."

"I can do math!" she cried out.

"Why do you go to school then?"

"Mama wants me to become a well educated woman so I can find a nice man of equal smarts but grater mon...mona...mona-tarie value..."

"Monetary," Erwin corrected her.

"I know that!"

"So, what do you want?"

Her eyes lit up, actually happy for the first time since Erwin was tacked onto her. She reached into her pocket and brought out a yellowing sheet of paper that had gone soft around the creases. There was a rough edge along one side. It had been torn out. Opening it with the utmost care, Elyse showed him what was on it. A picture of a mountain was drawn onto the paper with ink, and a town encased the very tip. It was a town unlike anything within the walls. The buildings had large pillars supporting the roofs and big windows, opening each house to the world.

Erwin looked down at the swift, evenly slanted writing. "And they live untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep-swirling Ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over them."

"Papa drew this for me when I was a baby. He said he wanted to pass Elyisum down to me, but until I'm old enough to have the book, I would have to do with this. I always keep it with me."

"You think this place actually exists?"

"Yeah," she beamed at him, "I do."

"You'll have leave the walls to get there."

"I know."

"Haven't you heard of the titans?"

"They can't be everywhere outside the wall."

Erwin's brows pinched together slightly. "I don't think escape is actually as easy as you think it might be. You would surely have to run for many thousands if not hundreds of thousand miles before the you stop seeing titans, and that's if they don't populate the rest of the world."

Elyse looked up in thought. "That's not far..."

"You may be good at math, but at least learn a few more numbers...and how to put them into perspective."

"Not all of us can have a teacher for a father!" she retorted.

"That wouldn't matter. Chances are, you wouldn't even listen to him if he was."

She gasped, not hurt by the comment, but most likely because she thought that Erwin had no snappy comment to counter her wtih. "I...you...w-well! You're no fun!" She huffed and ran off.

"H-Hey!" Erwin hesitated. Maybe he should get her father. Ohhh, but he was supposed to look after her. Either way, he would get into trouble. He ran after Elyse. That girl was speedy, he could only run as far as he saw her go before he had to ask some people if they saw a little girl run past. None of them did. However, they did see a ratty little boy booking it towards the river. Erwin took a very educated guess and supposed that the messy-haired Elyse with her unkempt manner and tattered pants and tunic was mistaken for a boy.

Following the directions of the townspeople, Erwin found where Elyse ran off to. Along the river, there was a stone paved walkway, and leading down to the river was a set of steps. There she was. Erwin walked down the stone steps to the river and the balled up Elyse. She had a twig in her hand and played with the floating debris in the water.

"I'm sorry," Erwin said as he approached.

"For what?" she muttered.

"I thought I upset you."

"You didn't."

"Then why did you run?"

She turned to him with her lips pursed. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Curiosity makes people smarter."

"It's just because you're older than me!" she snapped.

"You don't like it when people call you dumb...do you?"

"No one does!"

Erwin walked down a few more steps and sat down next to her. "I didn't mean to imply that you're dumb..."

Elyse sighed. "You didn't. You just came up with a comeback so fast, and...the way you talk. You talk like my mom, big words and...you sound so smart, and you're only a little bit older than me..." She looked up at him. "You're right. I won't be able to escape. I won't even be able to do what mama wants me to do."

"I don't know you well enough to tell you otherwise."

"Hmph..." She turned back to look at the water.

"But," he continued, "I do know that you shouldn't give up now. You could be plenty smart, just pay attention in class."

"Is that the only advice you can give me?" she muttered.

"It's the only advice you need."

"See? I wanna learn how to talk like that!"

"Well, if you stay around me for long enough, maybe I'll rub off on you."

"But..." she pouted, "that means I have to be around you..."

His normally expressionless face brightened up with a small smile. "Why is that a punishment?"

"You're creepy," she admitted. "You haven't blinked since I've met you..."

Erwin thought about it for a moment and then forced himself to blink. Elyse giggled at the funny face he made in attempt to prove her wrong. They spent a little more time at the river, with Elyse asking all she could about different words, before Erwin suggested that they go home. Their fathers were probably done with whatever they had to talk about.

Erwin did most of the talking on the walk back, while Elyse sauntered on next to him, listening to him speak. He had told her to listen and think about what was being said, word for word. She kept her mouth shut and opened her ears to take in his voice and his language.

"Elysia—"

"My name is Elyse," she cut him off. "I don't like Elysia."

Erwin seemed surprised at her sudden outburst. "Why?"

"It's too...grown up."

"Everyone calls you that though. Why didn't you correct anyone?"

She shrugged. "I don't talk to them at all. Once I get out of school, I'll never see 'em again, so why bother? If I'm gonna spend a lot time around you, you might as well know."

Erwin smiled. "Elyse suits you better anyway."

"You...think so?" She stared up at him with a shimmer in her eyes. No one but her father ever said that about her name. A blush crept onto her cheeks as Erwin kept on staring back at her in silence. It was uncomfortable. "M-My name comes Elysium, you know. It's so that no matter where I go, Elysium will always be with me."

"I wish my name had some thought behind it."

"Eh? But your name fits you really well. I couldn't see you as anyone else."

He continued to stare at her with an unwavering smile. "Don't you think it's an...old man's name?"

She giggled. "You'll grow into it."

"Of course."

Elyse stared up at him with a wide Cheshire grin. It felt so good to make new friends. Despite her reluctance before, she was happy that Erwin perused her. She thought she would be happy, if the rest of her life was just her and her books, but maybe it would be even better if had someone to share those stories with.

When they returned, Erwin's father waited for them outside. Not that he was usually that upbeat, but he seemed so much more somber. His sight was set on the young girl with his son that grinned so happily. She was a bright girl, raised by a brilliant father, but she was most likely oblivious to everything happening around her.

Not realizing the stagnant atmosphere, Elyse happily said goodbye to her new friend and his dad before hopping into her house.

Erwin stared after her, and did not envy the kind of tension that was in that household.


End file.
